Landscape and farm-level management for conservation of potential pollinators in Indonesian cocoa agroforests

Toledo-Hernández, Manuel; Tscharntke, Teja; Tjoa, Aiyen; Anshary, Alam; Cyio, Basir; Wanger, Thomas Cherico

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109106

Cited by 29 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The lack of a strong relationship between forest distance and visitation rates was contrary to our expectations of finding higher visitation rates in forest vicinity, as was the case in studies carried out in Asia (Klein et al., 2008; Toledo‐Hernández et al., 2021). Possibly, other management variables, such as canopy closure and habitat management, play a bigger role in insect visitation to flowers of native cacao.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Overall, we found a large diversity of flower visitors, but very distinct visitation patterns in the northern and southern study regions, which could have been (partly) due to different climatic circumstances during sampling. The low percentage of midge visitors (7%) found on cacao flowers in our study coincides with findings from studies in Asia and South America (Chumacero de Schawe et al., 2016; Toledo‐Hernández et al., 2021). Herbivores—aphids in the north and thrips in the south—were the most abundant flower visitors.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…In this study, we aimed to reveal key drivers of cacao pollination services (Figure 1) by sampling flower visitors, quantifying pollen depo- Toledo-Hernández et al, 2021). Herbivores-aphids in the north and thrips in the south-were the most abundant flower visitors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Landscape properties and management features are known to drive pollination services of tropical agroforestry crops, including cacao, but patterns are still not fully understood. In Asia, flower visitation by potential coffee pollinators increased with forest proximity (Klein et al., 2008), but thus far, no such association has been detected for cacao (Toledo‐Hernández et al., 2021). The integration of shade trees in cacao agroforests can provide multiple economic and ecological benefits (Blaser et al., 2018; Jezeer et al., 2017), such as increased Dipteran visitation rates under higher canopy closure detected in Indonesia (Toledo‐Hernández et al., 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While being an understorey tree native to the Amazon basin, cacao is nowadays mainly cultivated outside its native distribution range (Thomas et al., 2012). As a consequence, most research on cacao pollination services has been restricted to non‐native countries (Toledo‐Hernández et al., 2021). Yet, in recent years, cacao production in Amazonian countries has been on the rise (FAO, 2020), but yields of native cacao are often low (Romero & Vargas, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cacao flower visitation: Low pollen deposition, low fruit set and dominance of herbivores

Vansynghel

Ocampo‐Ariza

Maas

et al. 2022

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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Pollination services of cacao are crucial for global chocolate production, yet remain critically understudied, particularly in regions of origin of the species. Notably, uncertainties remain concerning the identity of cacao pollinators, the influence of landscape (forest distance) and management (shade cover) on flower visitation and the role of pollen deposition in limiting fruit set. Here, we aimed to improve understanding of cacao pollination by studying limiting factors of fruit set in Peru, part of the centre of origin of cacao. Flower visitors were sampled with sticky insect glue in 20 cacao agroforests in two biogeographically distinct regions of Peru, across gradients of shade cover and forest distance. Further, we assessed pollen quantities and compared fruit set between naturally and manually pollinated flowers. The most abundant flower visitors were aphids, ants and thrips in the north and thrips, midges and parasitoid wasps in the south of Peru. We present some evidence of increasing visitation rates from medium to high shade (40%–95% canopy closure) in the dry north, and opposite patterns in the semi‐humid south, during the wet season. Natural pollination resulted in remarkably low fruit set rates (2%), and very low pollen deposition. After hand pollination, fruit set more than tripled (7%), but was still low. The diversity and high relative abundances of herbivore flower visitors limit our ability to draw conclusions on the functional role of different flower visitors. The remarkably low fruit set of naturally and even hand pollinated flowers indicates that other unaddressed factors limit cacao fruit production. Such factors could be, amongst others, a lack of effective pollinators, genetic incompatibility or resource limitation. Revealing efficient pollinator species and other causes of low fruit set rates is therefore key to establish location‐specific management strategies and develop high yielding native cacao agroforestry systems in regions of origin of cacao.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cacao flower visitation: Low pollen deposition, low fruit set and dominance of herbivores

Vansynghel

Ocampo‐Ariza

Maas

et al. 2022

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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3D pollination biology using micro‐computed tomography and geometric morphometrics in Theobroma cacao

Wolcott,

Stanley,

Gutierrez

et al. 2023

Appl Plant Sci

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PremiseImaging technologies that capture three‐dimensional (3D) variation in floral morphology at micro‐ and nano‐resolutions are increasingly accessible. In herkogamous flowers, such as those of Theobroma cacao, structural barriers between anthers and stigmas represent bottlenecks that restrict pollinator size and access to reproductive organs. To study the unresolved pollination biology of cacao, we present a novel application of micro‐computed tomography (micro‐CT) using floral dimensions to quantify pollinator functional size limits.MethodsWe generated micro‐CT data sets from field‐collected flowers and museum specimens of potential pollinators. To compare floral variation, we used 3D Slicer to place landmarks on the surface models and performed a geometric morphometric (GMM) analysis using geomorph R. We identified the petal side door (an opening between the petal hoods and filament) as the main bottleneck for pollinator access. We compared its mean dimensions with proposed pollinators to identify viable candidates.ResultsWe identified three levels of likelihood for putative pollinators based on the number of morphological (body) dimensions that fit through the petal side door. We also found floral reward microstructures whose presence and location were previously unclear.DiscussionUsing micro‐CT and GMM to study the 3D pollination biology of cacao provides new evidence for predicting unknown pollinators. Incorporating geometry and floral rewards will strengthen plant–pollinator trait matching models for cacao and other species.

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Ecology of entomological communities in cocoa flowers (Theobroma cacao L.) in the shade-grown system: harmonic interactions in pollination

Jordão,

da Silva,

Nana

et al. 2024

Agroforest Syst

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Landscape and farm-level management for conservation of potential pollinators in Indonesian cocoa agroforests

Cited by 29 publications

References 37 publications

Cacao flower visitation: Low pollen deposition, low fruit set and dominance of herbivores

Cacao flower visitation: Low pollen deposition, low fruit set and dominance of herbivores

3D pollination biology using micro‐computed tomography and geometric morphometrics in Theobroma cacao

Ecology of entomological communities in cocoa flowers (Theobroma cacao L.) in the shade-grown system: harmonic interactions in pollination

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